Loved
by ifwednesdaywasaflowerchild
Summary: Linda King returns to Metropolis to see her former rival Lois Lane and flaunt her wealth, only to learn a harsh truth. That without love, you could have the world at your fingertips and still be broke. And, Lois Lane is more loved than maybe even she knows.


Linda King waltzes into Metropolis with all of the arrogant grace of a woman, who has let money and fifteen minutes of fame go to her head. Perched precariously atop four inch heels is a bad place to be in Metropolis, unless you're attending a fancy event, but the black snake skin stilettos are her favorites - they make her legs look great, or so she's been told. The sharp, polished point squeezes her toes to the point of discomfort but she is absolutely certain, she'll look better than Lois Lane.

The Daily Planet is buzzing with activity as per usual and when she steps off of the elevator, she isn't given a second glance as errand boys rush past, sophisticated women carry important files, and photographers are elbow deep in black bags, changing the film in their cameras. She weaves through cubicles until she finds what she's looking for.

Lois' desk.

She's still organized but there are a few personal touches. A framed photo of her and Clark. Both grinning happily, Clark holding a _Kerth_ award and Lois, with that perfect air of elegance and grace, hanging onto him. Next to that is a nameplate, turned in away from public eyes, that has _Lois Lane Kent_ engraved in its brassy surface. Wow. Did they really do it? She knew when she first met them, Clark was fiercely loyal to Lois but unwilling to define it. She suspected had she bothered Lois in any other way than her typical cowardice teasing, he would have proven fiercely protective. But, married? That hardly seemed like the Lois Lane.

"- Look, all I'm saying is that every time you wear those jeans, women stare at your butt." Lois is laughing, happy, seemingly carefree.

"You sound jealous, Missus Kent…" Clark's teasing voice follows.

There's a scoff, a shuffle, and then the soft murmur of Lois' denial before Clark's claimed her mouth with his own. Linda can tell because they've stumbled into view, mouths fused even as Clark's fingers dance over Lois' ribs and they're laughing too much to really kiss.

"Lois Lane kissing on the job. I never thought I'd see the day…" it's a not so subtle jab at her rival. Petty, sure, but Linda's never been above that.

Lois tenses against her husband, back arching so that they're torso to torso, and he can keep her from killing Linda where she stood. Forcing a smile on her face, she lets her hands drop to Clark's shoulders, and turns her head to her enemy. "Linda."

"Lois."

"I'm sure you remember Clark." Lois looks up at her husband with a vaguely pleading look.

"Uh, hi Linda." Clark is hesitant - he still remembers how Linda had treated Lois. It hadn't seemed like much at the time, a little teasing but in hindsight, it'd been more. It had been needling her until she unleashed her fury and hurt onto an unsuspecting victim. Usually, him. "How's Hollywood treating you?"

"Oh, just fine."

"I see you've had some work done." Lois smiles a little wider. The cotton candy smile. All sugar and no substance. "Those new boobs really suit you, Linda. At least, something about you isn't so small."

Linda grits her teeth. She deserved that, she supposed, still stung, though. Lois always did have a way of going for the jugular. She watches Clark tilt his head down, tucking his face into his wife's hair, attempting to hide his laughter but he can't hide the shudder of his broad shoulders.

"So, you two got married?" she points at the nameplate on Lois' desk.

"About six months ago." Clark grins happily. "Took us a while but we got there."

Lois looks a little embarrassed but Clark is far more in tune with his wife than any other husband would be and squeezes the back of her neck affectionately, silently letting her know that it is okay, now.

"I always suspected you two would end up married." Linda crosses her arms over her torso. "To be honest, I thought you were already married, the first time I saw you."

"Why?" but, Lois doesn't look even mildly offended by the assumption - back then, by the time Linda King had come along, she'd considered herself damn lucky to have Clark in her life, at all. To be married to him would have been a _dream._

"Clark."

"What did I do?" Clark's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"You had one foot out of the door the entire time you were with me." Linda explains, and upon seeing Clark's expression deepen, she continues on. "Look, you were a good enough partner. You did your job and you did it well but even I could tell you wanted Lois. You never defined your relationship with her but you wouldn't do anything with me."

"Well, what we had was hard to explain." Lois defends, pouting slightly.

"Yeah, but he was loyal, Lois." Linda sounds a little annoyed. "Frankly, it was like watching a love-sick puppy. I thought he was going to start drooling and panting every time you were mentioned, even in passing."

"Taunting me isn't enough, now you have to go after my husband, too?" Lois growls, face heating up.

Clark's arms instinctively tighten around his wife even as he turns his own glare on Linda. His lead-lined frames mean Linda's never touched with any sort of power that might cause her physical harm, but his cold stare does a lot of damage on it's own, without his other worldly enhancements.

"It's true, isn't it?" Linda shrugs it off, casually. "Clark, here," her chin juts toward the man holding Lois back. "Fiercely loyal. I could have knocked him unconscious and he would've asked for you when he woke up. What'd you have to do to him, Lois?"

The couple chooses not to mention that Linda wouldn't have succeeded, not that either of them think she would've tried, but any attempts at harming him would have been futile. He would have pretended, maybe even gotten a nice nap out of it, but the rest would have been for show.

"You're right." Clark agrees calmly. "I was loyal but she didn't _do_ anything to me. I wanted to be with Lois. I liked her spark, her passion, how she kept me on my toes. Still does."

Linda can't help but roll her eyes; "I'll bet she does."

"And, just what is that supposed to mean?" There is nothing mild about her irritation. She's fiery, burning hot with a fierce protectiveness. Insult Lois Lane all you like, but leave her husband out of it. "Are you implying that he's whipped?"

"In a roundabout way."

The gears turn in Clark's head, and it only takes him a second to figure out what the hell she meant. It's rather brash, even for a woman like Linda King, to imply that he's pussywhipped. She'd never say it aloud, considering herself too uppity to ever have such a vulgar word come out of her mouth, but as she's shown, she has no problem implying it.

"I love my wife." his voice is harsh; cold and sharp in a way Lois has never heard. "She is my best friend and I intend to spend the rest of my life with her. I married her because _I_ love her and _I_ wanted to marry her. There was nothing forced about it. Lois didn't force me into anything. She didn't have to, not with sex or anything else."

Lois' eyes widen.

She knew Linda wasn't above being petty, even downright bratty, but this was a different kind of low. To imply that Lois had used sex as a way of nabbing Clark - that was something else entirely.

"You must be confusing us, Linda." Lois speaks with her syrupy voice, the one she only uses when she _has_ to be nice to someone she absolutely cannot stand. "Sex is how you force men into things. We didn't do a thing until we were married. Not by choice, I'll grant you that, but circumstances."

"Oh yeah, I read something about that." Linda snaps her fingers, smiling wryly. "Eat any frogs, lately, Lois?"

"No, but I'm looking at a snake." there's that cotton candy smile, again. "Isn't that what you are? You get close someone who has something you want, pull the wool over their eyes, so they never see it coming when you steal it from them. You tried to do it to me with Clark."

"I didn't succeed, did I?"

"Doesn't matter, Linda." Lois shakes her head, blindly groping the air behind her because she could really use some physical contact with her husband right about now. Clark obliges, stepping up behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You would've kept trying. Why are you here?"

"I, uh, I don't know." Linda confesses honestly.

And, she doesn't.

The plane ticket to Metropolis had been an impulse buy, one her accountant was sure to chew her out for, but she'd felt this strong pull to return. She'd seen a lot the famous journalism duo on the news, lately, even managed to get her hands on some recent editions of the _Daily Planet_ with huge stories by Lois Lane and Clark Kent plastered across the front pages.

"I've seen stories by the famous Lane and Kent. You might as well be the only journalism duo. You're the only ones anyone cares about." she sounds vaguely put off by the idea of Lois being more famous than her, even if it was unwanted fame on Lois' part. "Playing you did nothing for me. They all know I'm not the real Lois."

"Well," Clark is unabashedly proud. "She is the best."

Linda fakes a laugh. Of course, he brags. And why wouldn't he? He's one half of the most revered journalism duo in the country. His wife is one of the most sought after journalists, probably fields dozens of calls every day for jobs, but Lois is loyal to the _Daily Planet_ and to the perpetual grump that is Perry White.

She's jealous.

She never thought she'd say that but she's jealous of Lois Lane. She has it all. A loving husband, a good job, probably a beautiful house, maybe even a baby on the way and Linda doesn't have any of that.

She has a huge cavernous mansion full of possessions. She has inanimate objects, cold and unfeeling, incapable of loving her in the way she wants to be loved. Her house and life are relatively empty, whereas Lois appears to have the world at her fingertips.

"Well, I, um, I should really be going." Linda fumbles for words. She really can't wait to leave the _Daily Planet_ and Metropolis and not have to face the harsh truth. "I have auditions, in a couple of days and I can't be late." painting a false smile on her face, she bids them a curt goodbye. "It was nice seeing you."

"Nice seeing you, too, Linda."

With that, Linda King makes her exit, appearing far more humble than when she first arrived. She came to rub it in Lois' face that she was a successful Hollywood starlet, that she was a multi-millionaire, but all she received was a harsh truth. That money and possessions and fame meant nothing without love.

And, Lois was more loved than maybe even she knew.


End file.
